They are likely to argue that tower firms don't merely meet the needs of mobile phone companies, and it would be unfair to licence them since they also support a host of non-telecom services linked to government projects like customer service centres, national e-governance rollouts, online education, surveillance work for the interior ministry to disseminating information on NREGA subsidy flows.

"Tower networks are a multi-sectoral infrastructure resource that do not address the needs of telecom alone. Trai's move to licence tower infrastructure providers will sharply inflate costs of the gamut of rural services and undermine the Centre's social and financial inclusion targets," said Umang Das, who is director general of the Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association - the industry body representing telecom tower firms across the country.

"Sibal is aware (that) tower networks were given infrastructure status as they support diverse industries and government projects. We are hopeful (the) government will set aside Trai's proposals after discussions with the minister later this week," said Das.

Tower firms, which are up to their eyeballs in debt and have seen profits disappear over the past one year, also believe Trai's proposals, if implemented, could run them out of business. "Tower companies have invested over 1 lakh crore in building networks and are struggling to recover cost of capital. Any imposition of licence fee will hit their bottom line and drive them out of business," said a top executive of one of India's leading tower firms.